INTERNATIONAL MARITIME ORGANIZATION

4 ALBERT EMBANKMENT
LONDON SE1 7SR
Telephone: 020 7735 7611
Fax:
020 7587 3210

E
IMO

Ref. T5/1.01

MEPC.1/Circ.684
17 August 2009

GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY USE OF THE SHIP ENERGY EFFICIENCY

OPERATIONAL INDICATOR (EEOI)
1
The Marine Environment Protection Committee, at its fifty-ninth session
(13 to 17 July 2009), agreed to circulate the Guidelines for voluntary use of the Ship Energy
Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI) as set out in the annex.
2
Member Governments are invited to bring the Guidelines to the attention of all parties
concerned and recommend them to use the Guidelines on a voluntary basis.
3
Member Governments and observer organizations are also invited to provide information
on the outcome and experiences in applying the Guidelines to future sessions of the Committee.
***

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ANNEX
GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY USE OF THE SHIP ENERGY EFFICIENCY
OPERATIONAL INDICATOR (EEOI)
1
The Conference of Parties to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution
from Ships, 1973, as modified by the Protocol of 1978 relating thereto, held
from 15 to 26 September 1997 in conjunction with the Marine Environment Protection
Committees fortieth session, adopted Conference resolution 8, on CO2 emissions from ships.
2
IMO Assembly resolution A.963(23) on IMO policies and practices related to the
reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships urged the Marine Environment Protection
Committee (MEPC) to identify and develop the mechanism or mechanisms needed to achieve the
limitation or reduction of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emissions from international shipping and, in
doing so, to give priority to the establishment of a GHG baseline; and the development of
a methodology to describe the GHG efficiency of a ship in terms of GHG emission indicator for
that ship.
3
As urged by the Assembly, MEPC 53 approved Interim Guidelines for Voluntary Ship
CO2 Emission Index for Use in Trials.
4
These Guidelines can be used to establish a consistent approach for voluntary use of
an EEOI, which will assist shipowners, ship operators and parties concerned in the evaluation of
the performance of their fleet with regard to CO2 emissions. As the amount of CO2 emitted from
a ship is directly related to the consumption of bunker fuel oil, the EEOI can also provide useful
information on a ships performance with regard to fuel efficiency.
5

These Guidelines may be updated periodically, to take account of:

-

Operational experiences from use of the indicator for different ship types, as reported
to MEPC by industry organizations and Administrations; and

Any other relevant developments.

6
Industry organizations and interested Administrations are invited to promote the use of
the attached Guidelines or equivalent approaches and their incorporation in company and ship
environmental management plans. In addition, they are invited to report their experience in
applying the EEOI concept back to MEPC.
7
In addition to these Guidelines, due account should be taken of the pertinent clauses
within the ISM Code in voluntary basis along with reference to relevant industry guidance on the
management and reduction of CO2 emissions.

***

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ANNEX
GUIDELINES FOR VOLUNTARY USE OF THE SHIP ENERGY EFFICIENCY
OPERATIONAL INDICATOR (EEOI)
Contents
1

INTRODUCTION

OBJECTIVES

DEFINITIONS

3.1
3.2
3.3
3.4
3.5
3.6

Indicator definition
Fuel consumption
Distance sailed
Ship and cargo types
Cargo mass carried or work done
Voyage

4
5
5
5
5
6

ESTABLISHING ENERGY
INDICATOR (EEOI)

DATA RECORDING AND REPORTING PROCEDURES

MONITORING AND VERIFICATION

6.1
6.2

General
Rolling average indicator

7
7

USE OF GUIDELINES

EFFICIENCY

OPERATIONAL

APPENDIX Calculation of Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI) based

on operational data

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1

INTRODUCTION
In 1997 IMO adopted a resolution on CO2 emissions from ships1.

IMO Assembly further adopted resolution A.963(23) on IMO policies and practices
related to the reduction of greenhouse gas emissions from ships, which requests the MEPC to
develop a greenhouse gas emission index for ships, and guidelines for use of that index.
This document constitutes the Guidelines for the use of an Energy Efficiency Operational
Indicator (EEOI) for ships. It sets out:

what the objectives of the IMO CO2 emissions indicator are;

how a ships CO2 performance should be measured; and

how the index could be used to promote low-emission shipping, in order to help limit
the impact of shipping on global climate change.

OBJECTIVES

The objective of these Guidelines is to provide the users with assistance in the process of
establishing a mechanism to achieve the limitation or reduction of greenhouse gas emissions
from ships in operation.
These Guidelines present the concept of an indicator for the energy efficiency of a ship in
operation, as an expression of efficiency expressed in the form of CO2 emitted per unit of
transport work. The Guidelines are intended to provide an example of a calculation method
which could be used as an objective, performance-based approach to monitoring the efficiency of
a ships operation.
These Guidelines are recommendatory in nature and present a possible use of an
operational indicator. However, shipowners, ship operators and parties concerned are invited to
implement either these Guidelines or an equivalent method in their environmental management
systems and consider adoption of the principles herein when developing plans for performance
monitoring.
3

DEFINITIONS

3.1

Indicator definition

In its most simple form the Energy Efficiency Operational Indicator is defined as the ratio
of mass of CO2 (M) emitted per unit of transport work:
Indicator = MCO2/(transport work)
For more details of indicator calculation, see 3.2 to 3.4 and Appendix 1.

Resolution 8 of the 1997 International Conference of Parties to MARPOL 73/78.

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3.2

Fuel consumption

Fuel consumption, FC, is defined as all fuel consumed at sea and in port or for a voyage or
period in question, e.g., a day, by main and auxiliary engines including boilers and incinerators.
3.3

Distance sailed

Distance sailed means the actual distance sailed in nautical miles (deck log-book data) for
the voyage or period in question.
3.4

Ship and cargo types

The Guidelines are applicable for all ships performing transport work.
.1

Ships:

.2

dry cargo carriers

tankers
gas tankers
containerships
ro-ro cargo ships
general cargo ships
passenger ships including ro-ro passenger ships

Cargo:
Cargo includes but not limited to:
all gas, liquid and solid bulk cargo, general cargo, containerized cargo (including
the return of empty units), break bulk, heavy lifts, frozen and chilled goods,
timber and forest products, cargo carried on freight vehicles, cars and freight
vehicles on ro-ro ferries and passengers (for passenger and ro-ro passenger ships)

3.5

Cargo Mass Carried or Work Done

In general, cargo mass carries or work done is expressed as follows:
.1

for dry cargo carriers, liquid tankers, gas tankers, ro-ro cargo ships and general
cargo ships, metric tonnes (t) of the cargo carried should be used;

.2

for containerships carrying solely containers, number of containers (TEU)

or metric tons (t) of the total mass of cargo and containers should be used;

.3

for ships carrying a combination of containers and other cargoes, a TEU mass
of 10 t could be applied for loaded TEUs and 2 t for empty TEUs; and

.4

for passenger ships, including ro-ro passenger ships, number of passengers or

gross tonnes of the ship should be used;

In some particular cases, work done can be expressed as follows:

.5

for car ferries and car carriers, number of car units or occupied lane metres;

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.6

for containerships, number of TEUs (empty or full); and

.7

for railway and ro-ro vessels, number of railway cars and freight vehicles, or
occupied lane metres.

For vessels such as, for example, certain ro-ro vessels, which carry a mixture of
passengers in cars, foot passengers and freight, operators may wish to consider some form of
weighted average based on the relative significance of these trades for their particular service or
the use of other parameters or indicators as appropriate.
3.6

Voyage

Voyage generally means the period between a departure from a port to the departure from
the next port. Alternative definitions of a voyage could also be acceptable.
4

ESTABLISHING AN ENERGY EFFICIENCY OPERATIONAL INDICATOR

(EEOI)

The EEOI should be a representative value of the energy efficiency of the ship operation
over a consistent period which represents the overall trading pattern of the vessel. Guidance on a
basic calculation procedure for a generic EEOI is provided in the Appendix.
In order to establish the EEOI, the following main steps will generally be needed:
.1

define the period for which the EEOI is calculated*;

.2

define data sources for data collection;

.3

collect data;

.4

convert data to appropriate format; and

.5

calculate EEOI.

Ballast voyages, as well as voyages which are not used for transport of cargo, such as voyage for
docking service, should also be included. Voyages for the purpose of securing the safety of a ship or
saving life at sea should be excluded.

GENERAL DATA RECORDING AND DOCUMENTATION PROCEDURES

Ideally, the data recording method used should be uniform so that information can be
easily collated and analysed to facilitate the extraction of the required information. The
collection of data from ships should include the distance travelled, the quantity and type of fuel
used, and all fuel information that may affect the amount of carbon dioxide emitted.
For example, fuel information is provided on the bunker delivery notes that are required under
regulation 18 of MARPOL Annex VI.
If the example formula given in the Appendix is used, then the unit used for distance
travelled and quantity of fuel should be expressed in nautical miles and metric tonnes. The work
done can be expressed using units appropriate for the ship type in paragraph 3.5.
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It is important that sufficient information is collected on the ship with regard to fuel type
and quantity, distance travelled and cargo type so that a realistic assessment can be generated.
The distance travelled should be calculated by actual distance travelled, as contained in
the ships log-book.
Amount and type of fuel used (bunker delivery notes) and distance travelled (according to
the ships log-book) could be documented by the ship based either on the example described in
the Appendix or on an equivalent company procedure.
6

MONITORING AND VERIFICATION

6.1

General

Documented procedures to monitor and measure, on a regular basis, should be developed

and maintained. Elements to be considered when establishing procedures for monitoring could
include:

identification of operations/activities with impact on the performance;

identification of data sources and measurements that are necessary, and specification
of the format;

identification of frequency and personnel performing measurements; and

maintenance of quality control procedures for verification procedures.

The results of this type of self-assessment could be reviewed and used as indicators of the
Systems success and reliability, as well as identifying those areas in need of corrective action or
improvement.
It is important that the source of figures established are properly recorded, the basis on
which figures have been calculated and any decisions on difficult or grey areas of data. This will
provide assistance on areas for improvement and be helpful for any later analysis.
In order to avoid unnecessary administrative burdens on ships staff, it is recommended
that monitoring of an EEOI should be carried out by shore staff, utilizing data obtained from
existing required records such as the official and engineering log-books and oil record books, etc.
The necessary data could be obtained during internal audits under the ISM Code, routine visits by
superintendents, etc.
6.2

Rolling average indicator

As a ship energy efficiency management tool, the rolling average indicator, when used,
should be calculated by use of a methodology whereby the minimum period of time or a number
of voyages that is statistically relevant is used as appropriate. Statistically relevant means that
the period set as standard for each individual ship should remain constant and be wide enough so
the accumulated data mass reflects a reasonable mean value for operation of the ship in question
over the selected period.

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7

USE OF GUIDELINES

Methodology and use of EEOI, as described in these Guidelines, provide an example of

a transparent and recognized approach for assessment of the GHG efficiency of a ship with
respect to CO2 emissions. The Guidelines are considered to be suitable for implementation
within a company environmental management system.
Implementation of the EEOI in an established environmental management system should
be performed in line with the implementation of any other chosen indicator and follow the main
elements of the recognized standards (planning, implementation and operation, checking and
corrective action, management review).
When using the EEOI as a performance indicator, the indicator could provide a basis for
consideration of both current performance and trends over time.
One approach could be to set internal performance criteria and targets based on the
EEOI data.
***

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APPENDIX
CALCULATION OF ENERGY EFFICIENCY OPERATIONAL INDICATOR (EEOI)
BASED ON OPERATIONAL DATA
1

General

The objective of the Appendix is to provide guidance on calculation of the Energy

Efficiency Operational Indicator (EEOI) based on data from the operation of the ship.
2

Data sources

Primary data sources selected could be the ships log-book (bridge log-book, engine
log-book, deck log-book and other official records).
3

Fuel mass to CO2 mass conversion factors (CF)

CF is a non-dimensional conversion factor between fuel consumption measured in g and

CO2 emission also measured in g based on carbon content. The value of CF is as follows:

Type of fuel

Reference
ISO 8217 Grades DMX through DMC
ISO 8217 Grades RMA through RMD

Carbon
content
0.875
0.86

CF
(t-CO2/t-Fuel)
3.206000
3.151040

1. Diesel/Gas Oil
2. Light Fuel Oil (LFO)
3. Heavy Fuel Oil
(HFO)
4. Liquified Petroleum
Gas (LPG)
5. Liquified Natural Gas
(LNG)

ISO 8217 Grades RME through RMK

0.85

3.114400

Propane
Butane

0.819
0.827

3.000000
3.030000

0.75

2.750000

Calculation of EEOI
The basic expression for EEOI for a voyage is defined as:

FC
EEOI =

CF j

Equation 1

mc arg o D

Where average of the indicator for a period or for a number of voyages is obtained, the Indicator
is calculated as:

Average EEOI =

( FCi j C F j )

(m

c arg o , i

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Di )

Equation 2

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Where:

j is the fuel type;

i is the voyage number;

FCi j is the mass of consumed fuel j at voyage i;

CFj is the fuel mass to CO2 mass conversion factor for fuel j;

mcargo is cargo carried (tonnes) or work done (number of TEU or passengers) or

gross tonnes for passenger ships; and

D is the distance in nautical miles corresponding to the cargo carried or work done.

The unit of EEOI depends on the measurement of cargo carried or work done, e.g., tonnes
CO2/(tonnes nautical miles), tonnes CO2/(TEU nautical miles), tonnes CO2/(person nautical
miles), etc.
It should be noted that Equation 2 does not give a simple average of EEOI among number of
voyage i.
5

Rolling average

Rolling average, when used, can be calculated in a suitable time period, for example
one year closest to the end of a voyage for that period, or number of voyages, for example six or
ten voyages, which are agreed as statistically relevant to the initial averaging period. The Rolling
Average EEOI is then calculated for this period or number of voyages by Equation 2 above.
6

Data

For a voyage or period, e.g., a day, data on fuel consumption/cargo carried and distance
sailed in a continuous sailing pattern could be collected as shown in the reporting sheet below.

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CO2 Indicator reporting sheet
NAME AND TYPE OF SHIP
Voyage
Fuel consumption (FC) at sea and in port in tonnes
or day
(i)
Fuel type
Fuel type
Fuel type
( )
( )
( )

Voyage or time
period data
Cargo (m)
Distance
(tonnes or
(D)
units)
(NM)

1
2
3
NOTE: For voyages with mcargo =0, it is still necessary to include the fuel used during this voyage
in the summation above the line.
7

Conversion from g/tonne-mile to g/tonne-km

The CO2 indicator may be converted from g/tonne-mile to g/tonne-km by multiplication by 0.54.
8

Example:

A simple example including one ballast voyage, for illustration purpose only, is provided
below. The example illustrates the application of the formula based on the data reporting sheet.
NAME AND TYPE OF SHIP
Voyage
Fuel consumption (FC) at sea and in port in tonnes
or day
(i)
Fuel type
Fuel type
Fuel type
(HFO)
(LFO)
( )
1
2
3

EEOI =

20
20
50
10

5
5
10
3

Voyage or time
period data
Cargo (m)
Distance
(tonnes or
(D)
units)
(NM)
25,000
300
0
300
25,000
750
15,000
150

100 3.114 + 23 3.151

= 13.47 10 6
(25,000 300) + (0 300) + (25,000 750) + (15,000 150)

unit: tonnes CO2/(tons nautical miles)

___________

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